Celebrate October 29, National Cat Day and read a bullied cat's story

Apollo 'the cat' after being rescued from a life of roaming the neighborhoods

This is Apollo. He's a gentle, older cat that wanted love and attention. He's not a mouser...he's  a lover. Today, October 29, is National Cat Day. Cat Day is the most popular holiday for cats...encouraging adoption and many levels of cuteness. 

There's a story behind every stray cat. Wouldn't it be something if they could tell it?

Here's Apollo's story told by his human:

One afternoon, a very kind soul from a neighborhood in Paducah brought this fluffy, chubby gray and white cat into a local veterinarian office. He had been attacked by other stray cats. The thing is, he's very gentle...the neighbors all fed and cared for him when he came around. However, the other cats bullied him.

The caring human brought the stray cat to the office for medical attention. He told the vet assistant that the other strays would probably kill him if he didn't escape their abuse and the friendly neighbor was unable to take him in. 

So, the vet clinic provided food, medicine, and medical attention. One of the vet assistance fell in love with him immediately and after a week of healing, took him home as her own. 

There's a National Cat Day website. On the website the celebration is considered quite the party. Here's what it says:

We explode the internet every October 29th. We live to celebrate cats and help them to find forever homes. Through our large social media & press platform, all year long we're able to partake in the wonderful world of cats and put the plight of cats in shelters, center stage. We educate literally millions all year long but on October 29th....it's party time!

We encourage you to spoil your fur baby a little more on National Cat Day than any other day (you don't want them to get too demanding do you?) by buying them a new toy drenched in cat nip, giving them something simply scrumptious to eat, offering LOTS more cuddling and making a donation to your local shelter in their honor. The best way you can celebrate though is to save a life!

So if you can....ADOPT....don't shop. Estimates reveal that there are approximately 4 million cats entering shelters every year with 1-2 million being euthanized. Often cats are overlooked and under-appreciated because they don't usually have jobs like dogs. But cats still lower blood pressure, offer unconditional love and companionship, tons of laughs and alert their owner to danger.

​Many cats have been named heroes. So take that...dogs!